Baby Aniston died due to "homicidal violence," medical examiner says

The Shelby County Medical Examiner has concluded that 2-month-old Aniston Walker died as a result of "homicidal violence." The infant was found in a ditch near Jones Orchard in February.

Andrea Walker

Aniston Walker, the missing two-month-old whose body was found in a Millington ditch, died as a result of "homicidal violence," according to autopsy results released Monday.

Her mother, Andrea Walker, was charged with first-degree murder in the perpetration of aggravated child neglect or endangerment and aggravated child abuse the next day. Walker, who has pleaded not guilty, remains jailed without bond and is due back in court April 28.

The autopsy doesn't specify the manner of violence that caused the baby's death, nor does it state an explicit cause of death. A toxicology report revealed no drugs in her system. X-rays showed no broken bones, nor did she have any head injuries.

"Internal examination reveals no evidence of injuries or disease that would result in death. Toxicology analysis results are consistent with postmortem changes; neither drugs nor medications were identified," Shelby County Medical Examiner Dr. Karen Chancellor wrote in the autopsy report. "In my opinion, this death resulted from intentional violence of undetermined type. The manner of death is homicide."

The infant's body was found by chance on Feb. 16, when a motorcyclist stopped by the side of the road near the Jones Orchard. As he was waiting on friends to meet him, the man wandered around and made the grim discovery. According to the autopsy report, Aniston was found wearing a brown onesie with a football helmet emblem and the wording, "Daddy's Team."

On Jan. 9, the child's father reported her missing. For nearly three days, police conducted an intensive search of Walker's house in the 5600 block of Falling Bark Drive, near Sycamore View and Raleigh-LaGrange. They found nothing.

Police said Walker refused to cooperate in the investigation. Walker was arrested and initially charged with aggravated felony child abuse and aggravated child neglect or endangerment. It was nearly six weeks later that the child's body was discovered.

The autopsy provides gruesome details, including that animals ate away some of the child's ear, face and hands. The autopsy also indicates she'd been in the ditch for some time, stating that her feet had an appearance consistent "with prolonged contact with water."